Why should we do one thing rather than another when there was no goal anyway, nor any direction in life, apart from the huddle together, live and then die? Who enquired about the value of this life when it was gone for ever, turned into a fistful of damp earth and a few yellowing brittle bones? The skull, wasn't it grinning with derision down there in the grave? What difference did a few extra dead bodies make from that perspective? Oh yes, there were other perspectives on this same world; couldn't it be seen as a miracle of cool rivers and vast forests, whorled snail shells and deep potholes, veins and grey matter, deserted planets and expanding galaxies? Yes, it could, because meaning is not something we are given but which we give. Death makes life meaningless because everything we have ever striven for ceases when life does, and it makes life meaningful too, because its presence makes the little we have of it indispensable, every moment precious. Karl Ove Knausgår...
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Hand-made book
A handmade book from José Alfaro on Vimeo . It is so beautiful just to see how a book can be made by hands. As food and clothes, when we buy something made by someone instead of a machine, makes it an unique thing. We can try to have less but with more meaning. More here .
The perfect protein
In The Perfect Protein, Andy Sharpless shows how seafood is the healthiest, cheapest, most environmentally friendly source of animal protein on Earth. Sharpless contends that we must save the world’s seafood not only to protect marine life and biodiversity but also to stave off the coming humanitarian crisis. With Earth’s human population expected to reach 9 billion by 2050—adding the equivalent of two Chinas to current numbers—we need wild fish more than ever to feed us (especially the nearly 1 billion of the world’s poorest people who rely on seafood as their main source of animal protein). The bad news is that wild fish populations are in decline because of overfishing, destruction of habitat, and bycatch. We are grinding up small “reduction” fish such as anchovies, mackerel, and sardines into feed for salmon and other farmed animals even though these overlooked fish are delicious and packed with health-boosting omega-3 fatty acids—and could feed mi...
4 fish
It has been some time since I have started to read this book : It is written by a journalist that likes to fish. He selected the four fish that are coming to dominate the modern seafood market and are visible footprints: salmon, sea bass, cod, and tuna. He tried to learn more about them and gives us general information about the way they have been produced. It has examples and facts about how people started to use them and how they have turned to be the most important fish in the world. I liked the way he ends the book, giving us the precious value of having a fish to eat: Fish: a crop, harvested from the sea that magically grew itself back every year. A crop that never required planting. The historical vocabulary around fish echoes this sentiment. Think in the word “seafood”: how many genera and species are described by these two opaque syllables? Equivalents in other cultures are no less vague or misleading. In most of the Western European...
O valor do peixe
Já aqui tinha expressado a minha admiração pelas crónicas do MEC. São um elogio a tudo o que há de bom na vida. E muitas vezes conseguem transmitir exactamente o que me passa pela cabeça. Tenho vontade de divulgar imensas coisas que vou lendo do MEC. Mas enquanto limpava o "ambiente de trabalho", depois de ter limpo o ambiente onde estou a trabalhar, encontrei esta crónica: Não poderia ser mais interessante por falar de peixe, da produção de alimentos, da sazonalidade e... ...do livro que estive a ler que a I. me ofereceu. É uma história sobre o valor que damos às coisas e aos outros. Mostra como as coisas mais importantes da vida são muito simples, não têm preço e quando são compradas podem perder o valor que lhes damos. Daí a história dos peixes e o valor que os peixes tinham para o pescador. A acontece na Islândia, uma ilha, onde há uma dependência forte da natureza e das relações humanas. Também gostei muito da personagem principal, o jovem Álfgrímur, e a descoberta que ...
O coração e a garrafa
Esta foi a minha melhor compra da Feira do Livro este ano: O coração e a garrafa de Oliver Jeffers . Foi uma surpresa! A história é mágica e as ilustrações são lindas...e quando o encontrei estava à procura de um livro para oferecer a uma pessoa. Só ainda não sei bem quando: falta o menino tirar o coração da garrafa :) O Coração e a Garrafa, de Oliver Jeffers View more videos from mrvpimenta .